MIAGuide
7 Miami Restaurants With Great Sunset Views
photo credit: Fujifilm Girl
A good Miami sunset is a thing of beauty, and it’s hard to improve on the beauty of nature. Unless, of course, you add a cheeseburger to the mix. Maybe even some beer or a nice spritz? OK, well - no offense to the sun - but it is actually possible to make a sunset better: you watch it from one of these seven restaurants.
The Spots
Lido, located inside The Standard in Miami Beach, meets all the criteria for a perfect sunset restaurant - it faces west, is outdoors, and has a waterfront view. Plus, Happy Hour (Mon-Thu from 4-6pm) times nicely with watching the sun melt over the Miami skyline. There are small plates you can share, like hummus or shrimp cocktail, as well as burgers, sandwiches, and steak. This is a hotel restaurant on Miami Beach - a waterfront one, nonetheless - so be prepared for that burger to be $20. But that’s all the more reason to come during Happy Hour, when beer is $5 and select snacks range from $4-8.
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Like Lido, La Mar also happens to be a west-facing waterfront restaurant. Unlike Lido, it’s located in Brickell Key, is slightly formal, and serves good Peruvian food. The menu should be familiar to any fan of Peruvian dishes, with plenty of ceviche, arroz con mariscos, and lomo saltado. La Mar is more of a special occasion restaurant thanks to the prices and fact that you should probably be wearing pants, and watching the sunset here is also a special occasion, so time your reservation accordingly.
If the thought of wearing pants or paying $20 for a burger makes you frown, then you might want to try Boater’s Grill. The casual restaurant is located inside the gorgeous Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park and they also just expanded with a new outdoor bar called The Cleat. Now they’ve got plenty of picnic tables where you can watch the sun go down and drink cocktails in one of Miami’s prettiest parks. Just a head’s up: there is an entrance fee to get into the park, but it’s worth it. Come early and make a day out of it.
Mike’s is our favorite rooftop Irish bar in Miami. Fine, it’s the only rooftop Irish bar in Miami. But you should still keep this place in your lineup whenever you want a great view without having to make a reservation or pay $18 for a cocktail. Mike’s outdoor patio gives you a view of Biscayne Bay and the Downtown Miami skyline at once - if you stand on your tippy-toes. The menu is mostly simple fried stuff and bar food, and there are TVs too in case you’re trying to watch a game.
Is it the prettiest view from The Citadel’s rooftop? Maybe not compared to some of the waterfront options on this list. But we like a city landscape, and think the view here is just fine, especially at sunset. Plus, The Citadel has some vendors we also really like, including United States Burger Service, Ash Pizza, Lil’ Laos, Yuzu, and Frice Cream. There’s beer, wine, and cocktails too, which are essential parts of any good sunset viewing.
Monty’s has one of the best views in South Beach thanks to its huge outdoor space located right on the edge of the Miami Beach Marina, which faces directly towards the sunset. There’s even a pool in the center of this place, even though we’ve never really seen anyone using it. If the food - mostly typical seafood dishes - wasn’t pretty average, we’d probably come here a lot more. But it’s still a solid choice for some frozen drinks and fried seafood. And that view is just fantastic.
You won’t quite get a direct sunset view at Garcia’s, but golden hour here is nonetheless an intensely pleasant experience thanks to some of the best seafood in Miami, cold beer, and the kind of casual dockside seating that’s perfect for slurping oysters. Garcia’s is right on the Miami River, so you’ll get some waterfront action as well.
